It's Christmas Time in the City
by NeverWonder
Summary: Finn and Rachel's first holiday in their own place; for the first time, Finn and Rachel don't return to Lima for the holidays.


**Author's Note**: This is for my girl, Heather, as a Christmas gift. I apologize for any inaccuracies in the way I handled the Hanukkah section; I tried to make it as accurate as possible.

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Usually they'd be making arrangements for flights out of New York City around this time of year, but in August they'd moved into their first apartment; well, the first apartment they could actually call their own. The original plan was to go home to Lima anyway, just for tradition's sake, but the idea of celebrating the holidays in their home for the first time had taken hold with Rachel. So she'd called her fathers, who weren't exactly thrilled with the idea but promised to try to at least visit during Hanukkah, and he called his mother, who sounded more than a little sad but assured him that she and Burt would be in New York to see them before the holiday was over. Rachel justified the decision to stay in New York with the fact that she and Finn were engaged, which meant that they were entitled to celebrate holidays with traditions of their own, and that they'd gone to Lima for Thanksgiving. Finn had agreed, though he was going to miss some of the Hudson traditions, deciding that it was time to start some new ones together.

They were two weeks away from the first night of Hanukkah and three weeks away from Christmas Eve, and Rachel had convinced Finn to borrow a car belonging to one of his friends at the station so that they could do some shopping. They still didn't have a tree for the apartment, and much to Finn's disappointment, their landlady wasn't going to let them have a real Christmas tree; as a firefighter, he knew that it was for safety, but it still didn't mean he wouldn't miss the smell of the Christmas tree in the living room. Rachel promised him that she'd find away to make sure that their first holiday in their home would be just as wonderful as the holidays they'd had in Lima with their parents. As they walked through the aisles of pre-lit artificial trees hand in hand, she listened quietly as he talked about the way the house smelled like Douglass Fir and the way the lights glowed at night.

"None of these are going to smell like Christmas, Rach. I know it's stupid, but there's just something about the way a Christmas tree smells."

"It's not stupid; it's part of what makes the holiday special for you, baby. I understand. I'm a little disappointed that I have to use regular candles in the menorah for Hanukkah because I can't use oil. This will be the first year I celebrate it without actually using oil, and Papa always insists on using the oil menorah." She stood on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek before pointing at what had to be the tenth tree. "This one is nice, Finn. It looks very realistic, and you can put your own tree topper on it. You could put the star your mother sent up there, and it would look very nice with these lights."

"Alright, we'll get this one then." He carefully picked up the box, granting his fiancé a warm smile, and she stepped aside to allow him to put it in the cart. "We don't have any ornaments, babe; I didn't want to take Mom's ornaments, so we have to start fresh."

Rachel have never decorated for Christmas, and the prospect of making the apartment festive for the holiday was more than exciting; she didn't celebrate the holiday, but it was Finn's favorite, which meant that she would do anything to give him the perfect Christmas. Their cart was filled with delicately painted glass ornaments, tinsel, and cool to the touch LED lights; she'd even picked up a box of candy canes because she recalled seeing them on the tree at the Hudson-Hummel home almost every Christmas she visited. Ignoring the stares they were getting, Rachel walked with her head high, clearly proud of herself and her purchases, and she didn't listen to the way Finn argued that they didn't need to spend so much on decorations. Instead she just smiled, handed the cashier the money she'd save specifically for the purpose of holiday décor, and they carried their purchases to the car.

"We could just do a tree, Rach; we don't have to do the whole apartment." Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, he chuckled softly. "Simple is good too."

"Finn, this is our first Hanukkah and Christmas in our own home, and I want it to be _perfect_." She smiled up at him as she carefully placed boxes and bags in the trunk while he held it open above her.

"But it's already gonna be perfect, babe; I'm spending it with you."

_ii._

The entire apartment smelled like Christmas when he arrived home from his shift at the station; the kitchen smelled like gingerbread cookies, and he could swear he smelled Douglass Fir in the living room. A plate of neatly decorated gingerbread men and women sat on the counter, and he picked one up as he passed by it; he found Rachel seated in the floor of the living room, her back to him as she held up pieces of artificial Christmas tree and sighed with frustration. He couldn't think of a time when she looked more adorable, dressed in her bright red NYU t-shirt and a pair of little black shorts with her hair braided into pigtails; Rachel kept it rather warm in their apartment most of the time so that she didn't have to worry about being bundled up while she baked or cleaned or did anything like that. She let out another frustrated sigh and tossed the pieces of the tree back into the open box.

"Baby, what are you trying to do?" She turned quickly, biting her lip when he indicated the tree.

"I was trying to put this darn tree together; I wanted to have it set up and ready to decorate before you got home. I'd already baked the cookies, and I found some scented oil diffusers that smelled like the tree should; I just wanted to have the tree up too." She sighed as he sat down on the floor beside her. "I wanted it to be as special it was at home for you, and I wanted to surprise you."

"It's alright, sweetheart; it will be special because it will be our first together in our own home, our first of many." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "So why don't you let me put this tree together, and you go get the ornaments and lights."

He wrapped her in his arms for a moment, giving her a gentle squeeze, and when he released her she reluctantly pulled herself up from the floor and left the room to get the ornaments and lights out of the hall closet; it took her three trips, mostly because she was a tiny woman who had purchased far too many ornaments and lights for an apartment with a small artificial tree. By the time she brought the last box of ornaments into the living room, Finn was almost finished attaching the branches on the tree; she knew he was more than a little disappointed that it was artificial, but he flashed her a small crooked smile as he carefully shaped each branch after it was attached. She could hear him humming Christmas carols, and when he finally finished with the tree she rewarded him with a quick kiss to his cheek before handing him the star.

"Mom says my dad picked out this star right after they got married; she just couldn't bring herself to use it after he died, so she bought a little angel for our tree." He let out a soft sigh, and she slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his back. "I figured maybe putting it on our tree would sort of honor his memory."

"I think it's wonderful, Finn. And I'm glad your mother sent it to us." He reached up to place the star before turning around to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight; dropping a kiss on top of her hair, he smiled softly down at her.

"This is going to be the best Christmas, Rach; I can just feel it." She stood on her toes to kiss him, smiling against his lips. "Let's finish up the decorations then. I have a feeling we've got quite a lot of work to do, considering my fiancé never does things small."

Soon Rachel had the boxes of ornaments open and was hanging them neatly on the tree, and Finn went about hanging the LED lights she'd insisted on buying above the doors and windows; for such a small tree, it took them quite a while to decorate it, perhaps because in true Rachel Berry fashion she had insisted on making everything just right. The entire apartment seemed to glow, and Rachel smiled up at him from across the room, the tree glittering next to her as she held out the box of candy canes. He could see the small stone shining on her finger; the engagement ring wasn't much, but it was all he could afford at the time and she loved it so much that it didn't matter. Smiling brightly, he hurried across the room to her side, dropped a soft kiss on her lips, and selected a candy cane from the box. Unwrapping it with a chuckle, he popped one end in his mouth before reaching down to scoop Rachel up; she giggled happily, her feet kicking slightly, and he held up above the floor so that she could hang candy canes on the top portion of the tree.

_iii._

He'd made an effort to learn as much as he could about Rachel's Jewish customs, but he still didn't really understand much about Hanukkah; he knew that it lasted eight nights, that they had were on night eight, and that it was customary for Jewish people to get a gift every night. Rachel had insisted that it wasn't necessary for him to get her something every night, but he had already bought her gifts several weeks in advance. Her fathers arrived early that afternoon, and Finn had borrowed a car to go and pick them up from the airport. Rachel had spent the three days leading up to Hanukkah cleaning for her fathers' visit, even though every room in the apartment outside their bedroom, which was routinely a mess, stayed spotless in case of visitors, and she'd sent him with a shopping list because she had decided that she needed to cook at least a few traditional foods while her fathers were visiting.

Her papa always made the potato latkes and sufganiyot and roasted a chicken, but she wanted to surprise him when he arrived. She'd made Finn crack eggs for her before he left and apply the seasonings she'd prepared for the chicken before it was put into the oven; while he was gone she threw herself into cooking, hoping it would be ready in plenty of time so that she could shower and clean up before Finn and her fathers arrived. Time seemed to fly by as she worked, even though the smell of cooking meat turned her stomach and she was constantly attempting to avoid being splattered with hot oil, and she was just drying her hair and fastening her necklace around her neck when Finn opened the door and ushered her fathers into their home.

"Bunny, it smells delicious in here." Hiram enveloped her in a hug the moment she appeared. "You know, I think I'm going to have to stop calling you that now that you're all grown up and engaged and living in your own home."

"Hi Papa! Hi Daddy! How was the flight?" She pulled back to take his hands, smiling brightly.

"Not bad, and we managed to avoid most of the traffic; I just wish we'd caught an earlier flight or we'd been able to come a day earlier." Leroy laughed. "Rachel, did you roast a chicken? There was no need to do that on our account, we know you're a vegan, sweetheart."

"It isn't a Hanukkah meal without Grandma Rebecca's chicken, and you know it." She smiled softly, stepping away to hug Leroy. "I wanted to do things right for you and Papa."

"I told her I would cook the meat for her, but she insisted, Leroy." It still felt odd to call her fathers by their first names, but both men insisted that if he was going to marry their daughter he should at least call them by their names.

"Our little star can be a stubborn girl." Hiram chuckled.

Thirty minutes later Rachel had dragged her fathers away from the kitchen and convinced them to go into the living room and relax while the chicken finished cooking. They spent quite awhile talking about Rachel's auditions and Finn's work at the station, as if they had just seen them at Thanksgiving and Rachel didn't call them almost every other night without fail. Hiram stood and went to the coat rack, and when he returned, he was holding a small blue and white bag; he handed it to Rachel with a smile.

"We used give you eight gifts, one each night, but you're all grown up now and your daddy and I thought we'd get you one very special gift. We were going to wait until after we lit the last candle, but I just couldn't wait." Rachel carefully opened the bag, removing the tissue paper and placing it in Finn's lap, and when she removed the small box and opened it, her eyes lit up. "We hope you like it."

"Papa, it's absolutely beautiful." She held up a shining Star of David hanging from a thin gold chain. "Thank you so much, both of you."

"Here, let me." She lifted her hair off her neck and shoulders, and Finn carefully unfastened the necklace she was wearing and fastened the chain, pressing a soft kiss to the back of her neck before she dropped her hair again.

Turning to kiss Finn's cheek, she quickly stood up to throw her arms around Hiram, kissing his cheek, and then Leroy; Finn couldn't help but feel a small pang of jealousy, if only for the briefest of moments. He'd never get to hug his father, and he would never get to tell his father about Rachel and how much he loved her and how he was going to marry the most amazing woman in the world. After a moment's silence, he reached down beside the couch, pulling out a small box neatly wrapped in silvery paper. When she turned around, he pressed it into her hands, smiling and shaking his head when she muttered that he shouldn't have gotten her so many gifts.

"Just open it, Rach, but first, remember what all the other ones were." She lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

"Finn Hudson, what are you up to?" He merely chuckled and pointed at the box; unwrapping it quickly, her eyes widened as she lifted a silver charm bracelet, each of the charms he'd given her as gifts earlier hanging from it. "This is incredible."

"I wanted to get you something to represent us and our lives together." She settled in his lap for a moment, hugging him tightly. "So each charm means something."

"Thank you, Finn; it's so beautiful." He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Bunny, I hate to interrupt this lovely moment, but I think it's time to light the candles." Hiram chuckled softly, his smile warm.

Rachel reached for his hand, squeezing it gently as she stood and lead Finn to the window where the menorah was displayed; her fathers followed, and when he attempted to step away to let them have their moment, Hiram gripped his shoulder and shook his head, whispering that he should stay. It was sort of amazing to see her with her fathers, the way she smiled, and he watched in silence as they said the blessings and lit each candle one by one, Rachel's face illuminated by the glow.

_iv._

"_It's beautiful, Finn; the tree and the lights and everything." She'd found him sitting in front of the tree, staring up at star, on Christmas Eve; kneeling behind him, she slipped her arms around his shoulders from behind and kissed his cheek. "But it's late, and we have a big day tomorrow. Why don't you come to bed?"_

"_You're beautiful, and I love you so much." But instead of standing up, he turned slightly and pulled her into his lap, kissing her softly and slowly._

"_We aren't going to bed, are we?" The question came with a playful giggle, and Finn answered with simple shake of his head as his hands slid under the hem of her t-shirt._

She woke beneath a blanket, her arms wrapped around Finn's bare chest; the lights of the tree glowed softly around them, and it would've been very easy to let Finn's slow peaceful breathing lull her back to sleep. But the sound of the phone ringing startled her, and she sat bolt upright, wrapping the blanket around her instinctively as she hurried to the phone. Her eyes widened at the sound of Carole Hummel's voice on the other end, and panic immediately began to sit in; the petite brunette nodded slowly, trying to sound as excited as possible as she spoke.

"Rach, baby, it's kind of cold in here, and you sort of left me in the floor, naked." Finn murmured in her ear, causing her to shiver, and he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Not now, Finn." She muttered under her breath so that his mother wouldn't suspect that her very naked son was attempting to be seductive. "Your mother is on the phone, and she has just informed me that she and Burt are in town; it seems they decided that with the house empty, they'd take a Christmas trip."

"That's terrific, babe." But his grin quickly faded. "Wait, they're in _New York_? Are they planning to visit?"

"Yes, she says they were going to pop in and surprise us this afternoon, but they thought maybe they would warn us instead, perhaps so that we can invite Kurt and Blaine." She turned away from him for a moment to talk to Carole. "That would be terrific; we were going to have Kurt and Blaine over tonight to exchange gifts, and the more the merrier. – Alright see you then, Carole. Love you too."

As soon as the phone was back in the cradle, Rachel darted to the bedroom, the blanket tangling at her feet and making her stumble; Finn followed helplessly, his hopes of a Christmas morning love making session completely dashed, and when he found her in the bedroom she was dressing like they were seventeen and about to be caught having sex by their parents. It wasn't like her to get dressed in the morning without showering, and when she caught him staring she gave him a look that clearly said that if he didn't get dressed as quickly as possible she was going to kill him.

"Babe, what's your hurry?"

"Your mother and Burt are coming, and while I can't prepare a real Christmas dinner by tonight, I want to at least have more than a bottle of wine, some eggnog, and a few cookies when they get here." She tugged on a pair of jeans and a sweater. "You and I need to go out and get some things."

It was starting to snow when they arrived home three hours later, arms full of groceries; Rachel had decided that she was going to bake two cakes and a pie for their impromptu gathering, announcing once they got into the cab that they would be having desserts since Kurt and Blaine were taking Carole and Burt to dinner. Almost as soon as they were inside, Rachel set to work; Finn had barely a moment to think before she had him cracking eggs and melting butter. She was like a whirlwind in the kitchen, and it didn't take long for her to have a cake in each oven of their double oven set up and a pie ready to go in as soon as one of the cakes came out; Finn took her by the hand and lead her out of the kitchen, insisting that she relax while things baked.

"Finny! I wanted to give you your Christmas gift before everyone gets here." She pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder forty-five minutes later after he stepped out of the shower and settled on the edge of their bed to dry his hair. "Let me go and get it."

He watched her sweep out of their bedroom, the red satin robe she wore swirling around her thighs, and he tossed himself back on the bed with a soft sigh of contentment; he felt unbelievably lucky. He had a beautiful home, a great job, and a wonderful fiancé who loved him; he honestly couldn't ask for a better Christmas gift than that, and he had no idea how anything could top it. Rachel reentered the room holding a large box wrapped in shiny gold paper with a large red bow perched on top; a bright smile lit up her face as he sat up, and she placed the box in his lap with a pleased grin. Tying her robe closed, she settled on the bed next to him, practically bouncing with excitement as he tore the paper and opened the box.

"Rachel, this is that jacket I showed you when we were at Macys!" He held up what appeared to be a black leather jacket, and she beamed. "Baby, you really shouldn't have gotten it; I told you it was way too expensive."

"But it's Christmas, so I got it for you anyway." She giggled as he set the jacket and box aside to stand and scoop her up in his arms. "I love you, and I wanted this to be the best Christmas; I knew how much you wanted the jacket."

"Rach, you didn't have to buy me a jacket to make this the best Christmas; I have you, and we're in our own place. We're together, and that makes this the best Christmas possible." He spun her around, and she giggled, her arms slipping around his neck. "Thank you, baby; thank you so much."

"Merry Christmas, Finn." He gently placed her on the bed, hurrying to answer the phone when it began to ring; moments later he returned, a bemused expression on his face.

"That was my mom, she says to tell you she's really looking forward to seeing us tomorrow; it seems you misunderstood her." Rachel fell back on the bed, covering her face with her hands. "Kurt and Blaine figured we'd just do everything tomorrow afternoon or something."

"You mean to tell me that I panicked over nothing?" She gave an exasperated sigh. "Well, I suppose that means we'll have to find something to do with the rest of our night."

"Oh I have a few ideas, baby." He chuckled softly, crawling into bed next to her and pressing a kiss to her lips. "Best Christmas ever!"


End file.
